divers and fish

[James Wiseman]

Ursula et al.,

I don't think Bill did a very good job of getting his point across either.
He is just back from a month is Fiji "checking up" on one of the coral
collectors there and I am sure he has seen both the "good" and the "bad" (and
sounds like even the "ugly") of the aquarium trade.  

I think the MAIN point is that this is a much more complicated issue than
just "Aquarium hobbyists don't care where their fish come from."  We are
talking about a complex socio-economic system with many interconnected parts
stretching from Europe to the US to Indonesia to the Philippines, etc.   

Instead of just pointing to a homepage (Not very useful Bill) why not take a
look at an editorial I wrote for that same website, which explains some of
these issues to hobbyists who may be ignorant of them:

http://www.reefs.org/editorial/september_2000.html

One thing to keep in mind through all of this is that aquarium hobbyists LOVE
their corals and fish - and as another poster to coral-list once said, "We
protect what we love."

Cheers
James Wiseman


-----Original Message-----
From: Ursula Keuper-Bennett [mailto:howzit at turtles.org]
Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2001 7:03 AM
To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Cc: Bill Crockett
Subject: Re: divers and fish


Hi Bill,

You wrote:

>     Seems like you are blaming the aquarist for the habits of the local 
> collectors and as far as I know there are very few people that collect 
> for their own tank.

Come on there.  That's like saying one shouldn't blame the Consumer for the 
habits of the local Indonesian loggers because as far as you know very few 
people chop down exotic hardwoods for their own furniture and floors.


You wrote:

>      While most reef keepers are not marine biologists by title many have 
> become lay marine biologist through the love of their hobby.  While I 
> might defend the hobby through words I would like you to take a look at 
> various sites that have been created because of the hobby.

I don't get your point.  Why would you encourage us to visit these various 
reef keepers' sites?  I just checked yours out.  Perhaps I missed the point.


Best wishes,
Ursula
TURTLE TRAX
http://www.turtles.org


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